


Penguin Sticker

by Aeriel



Category: Free!
Genre: Awkward Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-22 16:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3734905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More or less simultaneously, Gou and Nagisa have a revelation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penguin Sticker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lirillith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirillith/gifts).



"So, have you heard anything from Makoto-senpai?" Gou asked.  
  
She'd gone out for dinner with Nagisa and Rei to discuss who the new team captain would be, and although they'd tried to persuade Rei that he should be the captain, Rei had insisted he needed time to consider the idea, and left while Nagisa and Gou were perusing the dessert menu.  
  
Naturally, now Nagisa was on his third dessert and Gou was still working on the piece of cake she'd ordered after Rei left. She had no idea where he put it all.  
  
Nagisa bobbed his head in answer to her question as he chewed. "Yeah! He says his room's too small but the classes are good and most people are really nice. Have you heard from Rin-chan and Haru-chan?"  
  
"Uh-huh." Gou fished in her bag for her phone and pulled up the picture her brother had sent of them at the pool, Rin with a V for victory for the camera and Haru already in the pool, not paying attention. "They didn't end up rooming together, but they've got the same coach, so my brother says he still sees Haruka-senpai a lot."  
  
"Haru-chan looks happy," Nagisa laughed.  "Hey, can I have some of that?"  
  
"No!" Gou shielded her pastry with mock outrage. "You can order one yourself if you're still hungry, I know better than to let you have 'a little bite.' You'll eat almost all of it!"  
  
"Gou-chan's _so mean,"_ Nagisa said tragically, giving his best pleading eyes.  
  
"It's _Kou,"_ It had become something of a half-hearted protest lately. She kind of liked how much enthusiasm he had for her given name, which she had been so proud of until everyone started teasing her about it being boyish. Still, Gou was hardly going to let him get away with it in public.  
  
"Well, Gou-chan has some chocolate on her nose." Nagisa leaned over the table with a napkin, and then, to her shock, licked her nose instead. "Yum!"  
  
Gou stared at him. The grin dropped off Nagisa's face, and he stared back at her. Her cheeks were burning. She knew he was probably just goofing around as usual and she should punch his arm, but… was he starting to blush too?  
  
She rubbed her nose self-consciously and lowered her eyes. What had they been talking about? "Did you do the history reading on the Meiji era restoration?" she blurted out.  
  
"Huh? Yeah, sort of." Nagisa sat back down. "It's stuff I've read before."  
  
"Really?" Gou had heard once that Nagisa scored really well on his entrance exams, but it was hard to imagine him taking school seriously enough. "I just remember the Shinsengumi."  
  
Nagisa blinked. "But it's really interesting! I like history."  
  
"Weren't you doing really badly last semester?"  
  
"Eh, some stuff's more memorable than others. And the essay topics were stupid."  
  
Gou frowned. "Nagisa-kun! You shouldn't let your chances of getting into a good university rest on whether or not you like the topics!"  
  
For once, Nagisa was silent. It was actually unnerving. Gou could still feel the swipe of his tongue against her skin, making her blush again and look down at her plate. Was she even hungry anymore?  
  
"I'm done eating." Nagisa was smiling again, but Gou had never, ever heard Nagisa refuse food when there was still more left on the table.  
  
Without thinking, she got up and leaned over the table to feel his forehead. "Are you sick?"  
  
"Don't worry about me," Nagisa said brightly. "I just stopped being hungry. It happens!"  
  
_"Does_ it?" Gou said suspiciously, but sat down. Touching him had only made her more aware of how strangely self-conscious she was. What was wrong with her, anyway? It was only Nagisa.  
  
They paid for their food and headed out together.  
  
"Rei-chan will do it," Nagisa assured Gou. "It might take a little while but he'll be a great team captain, don't you think?"  
  
She nodded absently. "Uh-huh."  
  
"And we should figure out our strategy for recruiting new members!"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Did you still want us to pose in our swimsuits?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
Nagisa waved a hand in front of her face. "Kou-chan? Are you there?"  
  
Gou blinked. "Eh? Sorry, Nagisa-kun."  
  
"You must really be tired," sighed Nagisa. "I guess we'll talk club business tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah," Gou said sheepishly. "That sounds good."  
  
They walked to the train station, idly discussing what movies were coming out next week. It was pretty normal stuff, but Gou kept feeling like there was something she needed to do. Nagisa was talking a little faster than usual, and she couldn't tell if it was the sugar rush or if he was actually nervous. But why would Nagisa be nervous around her?  
  
"Well, here we are!" Nagisa announced when the station was in sight. "Looks like I don't have to wait too long."  
  
"Yeah…" Gou's hand brushed against Nagisa's, and he glanced at her, his expression neutral and unreadable.  
  
"Kou-chan…"  
  
Gou's stomach clenched. "Nagisa-kun?"  
  
Nagisa grinned. "Are you still worried about my protein intake?"  
  
She _did_ punch him in the arm then. "I thought it was something serious!"  
  
"My health isn't serious to Kou-chan?" Nagisa pouted.  
  
Gou rolled her eyes. "If anything, I'm worried you'll get diabetes! But that's between you and your doctor. Don't scare me like that."  
  
Nagisa screwed up his face in mock concentration. "Don't… scare… Kou-chan…"  
  
"Stop it!" Gou laughed, swatting at him. "You're going to miss the train!"  
  
This time Nagisa managed to grab her hand, waggling a disapproving finger at her. "Gotcha!"  
  
There was something she needed to do.  
  
Impulsively, Gou leaned in. The smile dropped off Nagisa's face and at the last moment she chickened out and kissed his forehead. "See you later!"  
  
Nagisa dropped her hand, an oddly serious expression on his face. "See you later, Kou-chan."  
  
And then he was gone.  
  
Gou rubbed her nose self-consciously. Why had she done that? Were things going to be weird between them now?  
  
And when, exactly, had he started calling her Kou?  
  
>::-  
  
The minute he got on the train, Nagisa punched the air. He hadn't been imagining things! She _was_ interested!  
  
Well, probably. She could just have been leaning in to pull her hand away. Theoretically. But that didn't explain the super cute blushing!  
  
The nose thing had been totally misjudged, obviously. It was the sort of goofy thing he'd do with his guy friends and sisters except they always shoved him away before there was any actual contact, or made a big production of their disgust/annoyance. ( _"Nagisa, you're not a dog!"_ was a thing he was used to hearing)  
  
But she'd just stared at him and for a moment Nagisa had lost his nerve completely. He hoped he hadn't upset her. He didn't think he could stand having made G- _Kou_ -chan upset.  
  
But it was all right. It was better than all right! It was great!  
  
Nagisa whipped out his phone to text Rei-chan the good news, then thought better of it. Kou-chan probably wouldn't appreciate Rei-chan knowing Nagisa was going to ask her out before she had a chance to make up her mind about it.  
  
He wondered if she'd notice if he switched back to Gou-chan. She hadn't said anything, which could mean she was just pleased but not making a big production out of it, or it could mean she really hadn't noticed. Mostly he had started by way of apology… but it was kind of fun to see whether it mattered or not. And she was _really_ cute when she was worked up about something.  
  
Well, he'd find out tomorrow at school!  
  
Nagisa could hardly wait.  
  
He plotted his approach carefully. Get to school early (sorry, Rei-chan) and sneak a letter into Gou's shoe locker. The letter would say… what would the letter say?  
   
_Kou-chan, I really like you, meet me on the roof!_ No.  
  
_Kou-chan, guess who? You''ll find out on the roof!_ No… probably not.  
  
_Kou-chan, meet me after school and judge my muscles!_ Nagisa's face went hot. Definitely not!  
  
_Kou-chan, I challenge you! To an all you can eat buffet!_ Well, then she'd immediately know who it was. And probably not go out with him.  
  
Nagisa groaned. Writing a confession letter was harder than it looked! Especially when it was somebody you already knew. If he was writing to, say, Yamamoto Akemi, all he'd have to do would be to write that he wanted to talk to her and she'd figure it out fine. But Kou-chan would just assume it was more swim club business. Especially since he'd already said they'd talk about that tomorrow. Which they would, but…  
  
Nagisa looked at his phone charm morosely. "Any ideas, Iwatobi-chan?"  
  
_Somebody really likes you, Kou-chan! So this person would like to talk to you on the roof after school. Will you go? Wink!_  
  
He didn't love it, but it wasn't completely awful. So Nagisa folded it up and put it in an envelope. He was tempted to put a sticker on it but Kou-chan probably recognized most of his stickers.  
  
Then again, maybe she'd be more likely to pay attention.  
  
Just before he left in the morning, Nagisa wrote _Matsuoka Gou_ on the envelope and sealed it with a baby penguin sticker.  
  
He hadn't slept very well, too anxious to know how this was all going to play out. So after Nagisa put the envelope in Kou-chan's locker, and told himself that there was absolutely no turning back now, he took a little nap at his desk.  
  
"Nagisa?"  
  
All right, so it had been a _little_ more than a little nap.  
  
Rei-chan frowned. "Nagisa, is that drool on your notebook?"  
  
"Nooo…" He hastily wiped at it with his sleeve. He never drooled on his pillow! Why did it always have to happen when he was in class?  
  
"Is something wrong?" Rei-chan leaned in, frowning. "You can tell me. You're acting very strange, you know."  
  
"Nooo…" Nagisa cast around for a good excuse. "I'm… really excited it's almost summer!"  
  
Rei-chan didn't buy it, but lucky for Nagisa, the teacher was starting to get mad so he had to return to his seat.  
  
Unluckily for Nagisa, he ran into Chigusa.  
  
"Looking for Gou?" She grinned. "I saw her stuffing a love letter into her bag this morning!"  
  
Nagisa's stomach turned over. "I-is that so?"  
  
"Yeah, and she said she had something to do afterschool, so I wouldn't wait around if I were you, Nagisa-kun. She can talk about the swim club tomorrow!"  
  
"Oh. Okay." He hoped that meant Kou was waiting on the roof for him and not desperately avoiding all contact. It wasn't Chigusa's fault that she assumed the letter wasn't from Nagisa, but…  
  
Chigusa frowned. "You're acting kind of weird today."  
  
"That's what I said," Rei-chan grumbled, somewhere behind Nagisa.  
  
"It's nothing!" Nagisa said hastily. "I… also have something to do today! See you later!"  
  
He feinted a turn towards the exit, then doubled back around and ran up the stairs. Please be there, please be there, please be there!  
  
Nagisa hurled himself against the door to the roof, and came flying out, almost falling face first onto the concrete. He steadied himself, and looked up.  
  
Gou was blinking at him. "That was… dramatic."  
  
"Um… yeah. Sorry." Nagisa rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I kind of thought you wouldn't show up. Or would leave before I got here."  
  
"Why would I do that?"  
  
"I don't know…" Nagisa laughed. "I'm glad you're here!"  
  
Kou's cheeks went pink. "So you weren't just joking, right?"  
  
"No!" Nagisa said emphatically. "I would never do something mean like that! Especially not to Kou-chan."  
  
"When did you start calling me Kou?" Gou demanded. "Not that I mind, it's just… how long have you liked me?"  
  
"That depends." Nagisa not-so-casually rocked back and forth on his heels. "Do you like me?" He wondered if she could hear his heart pounding. He almost wanted to look away, but he had to watch her face.  
  
Gou's cheeks were still pink, and she wasn't looking away. That was good, probably. "I… I recognized your penguin sticker. So I knew it was you. And I've been thinking."  
  
"And?" Nagisa prompted. He kind of thought he should say _it's okay if you don't_ but… he really hoped he wouldn't have to. And to just come out with that would look pretty insecure.  
  
"I think I do." Gou bit her lip and shook her head as her blush spread. "I mean, I do. Yes. I like you, Nagisa."  
  
Nagisa didn't think he'd ever grinned so hard in his life, and that was saying something. "That's great! That's really great!" Unable to restrain himself, he punched the air. "Yes!"  
  
Kou-chan laughed, and Nagisa laughed too, completely unashamed.

"So..." Kou moved a little closer. "What do we do now?"

"Go get okonomiyaki," Nagisa said immediately.

He half expected her to swat him for thinking of food first (what? He was hungry!) but to his delight, her face lit up. "Where?"

"There's a new place that just opened! It's supposed to have Hiroshima style."

"Is that the kind without bacon?"

"Yeah, but they have with bacon too."

"Good! I'm getting squid!"

"Me too!"

"That's boring. You should get something else so we can try two different kinds. I'll let you have some of mine if you let me have some of yours, okay?"

Kou-chan was going to be the _best girlfriend ever._

Nagisa was so overcome, he threw his arms around Kou and kissed her madly.

At least, that was what he was intending to do.

"Owwww!" they both cried out in unison, rubbing their respective noses. _  
_

"Sorry. Uh, did I hit your chin, too?" Nagisa _was_ apologetic, really he was, but… he couldn't keep a straight face. And judging by the way Kou-chan was sucking in her lips, she was also trying not to crack up.

Nagisa lost it, doubling over with laughter. Kou-chan followed almost immediately, though she did manage a, "It really did hurt-" before collapsing with laughter again.

"I'm really bad at this!" Nagisa gasped, clutching his stomach.

"Me too!" Kou covered her smile but it didn't stop her from letting out another giggle. "Can we… can we try again?"

They approached each other with caution. Kou lowered her head a little bit, to accommodate the height difference, and Nagisa put his hand on her shoulder. He'd touched her casually a billion times before, so why was he getting anxious all of a sudden?

His sudden intense focus must have showed, because Kou offered a shy smile. "How long have you liked me?"

"Since always."

_"Nagisa."_ She bit her lip, half-pouting. "Stop kidding around! Since when have you…" Kou blushed prettily, and then Nagisa _had_ to kiss her.

He was careful this time, maybe a little too careful. But Kou's mouth felt nice against his, and he must have done something right for her to put her arm around him. Impulsively, Nagisa nuzzled her cheek.

"You goof," Kou said fondly. She kissed his nose and Nagisa felt like he was floating.

"Should we go eat?"

"Maybe." Nagisa was still hungry, but he wasn't about to move if he didn't have to.

_"Maybe?!"_

He kissed her again.


End file.
